Four Little Words
by UnderxGravity
Summary: When he can't figure out how to proceed in his relationship, Sheldon goes to Leonard for help. Enjoy! Sheldon/Amy fic. Will be three chapters long!
1. Chapter 1

Leonard had to give credit to Amy- she knew how to keep his roommate preoccupied. Usually the only way to get Sheldon out of his hair was to take his leash off and make a run for it, hoping he didn't find his way home.

She distracted him, enough so that Leonard could have his "me" time. She was the only thing besides reckless abandonment that could rid him of his best friend for more than a half an hour. What they did together, he didn't know. With Sheldon being as romantically unattached as he was and his girlfriend being almost (but not quite) as socially obnoxious as he was, he didn't understand how they could stand one another.

So Leonard was trying something new. He had the time to do anything he wanted, for a short while.

"Breathe deeply, as you draw your thighs up and over your shoulders, and chant the mantra." He inhaled deeply, raised his left leg up and-

"LEONARD!" Sheldon burst in, after a series of quick, customary knocks. His hair was mussed up, eyes wild with fright like a baby deer trapped in a Nascar stadium.

"Leonard, something terrible has happened! I require your immediate social advisory skills, as Penny isn't in, and you're the Gandhi of the social scene."

He gave Sheldon an incredulous look.

"That is to say, your skills with others of your species may go unrecognized by many of your peers before an early death, unlike Penny's-"

"Get to the point Sheldon, I'm busy!" His left leg was stuck behind his head, jolted into place when a lunatic had burst in, screaming his name. He glared angrily at his best friend, and his leg twitched in an attempt to right itself.

"And it's no wonder, sometimes I wonder if you've any social skills at all. Certainly more than Wolowitz...well, aren't you going to get up and offer me a hot beverage? It is customary to do so when one's companion is in distress."

"I'm kind of stuck here. And you're not my companion by choice," he added on in a low mumble.

"Now you're not always my cup of tea, but I find your friendship is usually commendable, at the worst of times. You owe me as a friend." There was a small twitch of sadness on Sheldon's face. He looked less like a stoic praying mantis for a second, and more like a depressed grasshopper.

He sighed. "Alright Sheldon, what's bothering you?"

The physicist paced around the room nervously.

"I don't know where I went wrong. I have, in writing, proof of my commitment, and we have discussed on numerous occasions the implications and legalities- in the presence of our respective lawyers- mine being the only one capable of representing my case fully, being that I represent myself."

He sat down and twiddled his thumbs, anxiously perched on the edge of Leonard's bed.

"I don't understand where I went wrong, and I need you to help me figure it out."

His leg was slowly becoming numb, and he dislodged it from above his head like a limp stick of salami. It landed on the floor with a _thump._

"Did you get in an argument with her?"

"If you were listening at all, you would not have come to that conclusion. Good lord, maybe I should have tried Penny's cell phone. It's like talking to a sack of potatoes!"

Leonard began to wonder how hard he could swing his salami leg, and if it was enough to knock any of the crazy out of his best friend.

"Pretend you're talking to Penny then; Sheldon, what's wrong?"

His eyes looked a bit watery, as he was blinking more than normal when he answered, though he was trying to keep himself composed.

"Leonard… she wants to marry me."


	2. Chapter 2

"So… are congratulations in order?" If there was anyone in the world more compatible with Sheldon, it was Amy Farrah Fowler. She had such a positive effect on her boyfriend, ever since they first met- from getting him to go out more to engaging his rather odd sense of humor, in a way that none of his fellow colleagues could.

There was a curious pause, and Leonard's stomach fell. "You don't care about her."

Sheldon perked up. "Of course I care." He wiped his nose of his shirt sleeve. " I care a great deal for Amy Farrah Fowler, and this is precisely my problem."

Leonard still felt as if he was missing something. "Do you love her?" Sheldon squirmed around a bit.

"The only persons in any known universes that I have expressed anything remotely close to love for are my mother and my mee maw. "

The dead leg gained new life, rising slowly and tenderly as a new-born zombie.

"Describe how you feel about Amy."

Sheldon got up and started pacing again.

"It isn't something that I normally think about. Not like your prior pining over Penny." He directed his gaze at Leonard. "Do you love her?"

"That's completely… I mean… we're talking about you here Sheldon!"

"I suppose you're right. Your list of grievances when it comes to the field of "romance" could stretch across the Indies like a silly, strongly-perfumed flag." He stepped away from Leonard to straighten a picture on the wall. "In the heat of the moment, I assumed that your carnal advances could relate to my- my…". He sighed, closing his eyes tightly.

"She's my friend. She is the only person that I can ever speak to about the implications of the photoelectric effect, or… or about my fear of the inevitable robot apocalypse! And I-" He stopped there, seemingly confused by his own emotions. As he rarely talked about them, Leonard imagined that putting his normal, relatable human emotions into words was both difficult and mortifying.

And yet he seemed to speak with absolute certainty with his next words.

"I don't want to lose her." He sounded sad, like she was already lost to him.

"Maybe you should tell her that." Sheldon jerked his head over his shoulder, a surprised look on his face.

"Don't be silly Leonard. I imagine if admitting it to myself proved such a tedious task, admitting this to Amy would be more futile an effort than trying to get Stan Lee to revoke his restraining order against me. Not that I would want to do that," he added, "As it makes a lovely addition to my bedroom, right above my winter sock drawer."

"Sheldon, do you want my advice, or not?" Sheldon's mouth twitched. "I mean, in this case, being I am the only person capable of giving you advice-"

"Many others are _capable_, you're just the only _availa_-".

"SHELDON!" He resisted the urge to bash his head against the bedframe. Sheldon-logic was something he had gotten used to, in the respect that he knew when to ignore it. Otherwise, he ran the risk of bursting an artery, and his doctor warned him that the stress of living with a psychopath wasn't worth his while. Nevertheless, he had to find a way to reach him. The one thing that kept him in check, Amy, was now breaking him down into a more complicated compound structure. How could he reach the _man_ inside of the scientist?

"Sheldon, say you had never told your Mee Maw that you love her." The child inside of him shone through for a second, as his shoulders slumped at his new consideration.

"You're not too good at consolation."

"Your Mee Maw is now on her death bed." Comparing marriage to death seemed like a fair enough connection. "You have to tell her how you feel about her. How would you do this?"

Sheldon's face crumpled a bit, a small sob escaping.

"But Mee Maw can't die…"

"You can lose anyone you love, Sheldon, at any time. Sometimes in a relationship, you need to take an extra step, into something you're not so comfortable with. What's really a shame is that if you keep pulling away from her, you could lose the only person you've _ever_ met who feels the same affection for you that you do for her! What you need to do is put logic and technicalities inside. You need to just let yourself say what you feel."

If he hadn't reached Sheldon yet, he didn't know what else to do. Thirty minutes of uninterrupted yoga a day was worth trying to get through to him. Besides, it was a little heartbreaking to see Sheldon in such a state. Not making things right would be like kicking a stray puppy.

That night, Sheldon decided he had to make sense of things. He requested in a text message to Amy that he visit her at the next convenient time. She agreed that they should meet soon, and so Leonard dropped him off at her apartment.

Climbing the stairs up to her room, he felt like he was on a hero's trek into the belly of a beast. He didn't know what he could say that would offend her the least. If he employed Leonard's suggestion of "speaking from the heart", he didn't know what he was _capable_ of saying. Logic had been his maiden, he her king, since he was capable of speaking words with multiple syllables. This was about the time that his mother assured him he was her "special" boy, after taking him to visit his first child psychologist.

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><p>Aaaand you'll find out what happens next, once I've got the final chapter edited. I appreciate any and all reviews, favoriting and alerts! Last chapter will be out soon.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

"Amy". _Knock knock knock. _"Amy". _Knock knock knock._ "Amy". Though she recognized her boyfriend at the door after his first knock, she afforded him the assurance of carrying out his greeting ritual. He had complained to her before about the instances Penny had interrupted him, going as far as to copy him, sending him into hysterics.

"Come in, Sheldon." She had her hands full of dolphin brain, the odor burning her nostrils. As he entered, she stripped off her plastic gloves and threw them away, proceeding to wipe thoroughly with a sanitary wipe. If her man wanted some lovin', she would not wish to prevent it with the strong smell of preservation fluids.

"You seem tense, may I offer you a hot beverage?"

"I appreciate that, thank you." He wiped his hands on his pants, as the more he attempted to maintain control of his rudimentary functions, the more control failed him. He breathed in deeply but softly, in an effort to avoid disturbing her further. Once he had a warm hot cocoa in his hands and trickling down his throat, he felt a little more at ease.

"Amy, you uttered a proposal earlier this evening that was not mentioned in the Relationship Agreement, and I must say that my unfamiliarity with the subject matter threw me off." He sipped at his cocoa.

"Nevertheless, I obtained the best advice that I could under the circumstances on how to proceed. Keep in mind, my sources were limited to Leonard or the man who delivered my lunch this afternoon."

She nodded in sympathy. "A rather bland variation of options."

"Yes. And I am surprised at what I am about to do Amy, but my mind is apparently capable of making a decision that is more- automatic."

She gave him a sly look, stirring her tea. "Losing logic to your more basic emotional impulses?"

"Correct." He picked at a string on his shirt, but tried to keep looking at her. He felt like he was about to be ill, but in the case that he could accomplish the task at hand, he required her full attention.

"Amy." His hand twitched next to hers on the couch. She shuffled her fingers closer until they touched his hand, and he felt more nausea rising. But he did not withdraw his hand.

"It has been brought to my attention that although my superior intellect could potentially end world hunger, win me the Nobel peace prize and preserve the human race in a strategic move against a rising robot army," he started, "It is possible that I do not always use it for everything that is worthwhile."

He swallowed. "Even if I can preserve and clone myself when the time is needed for Sheldon 2.4 to rule my fellow man, before then, people are fragile." He looked like he was about to jump out of his own skin.

"Human beings are not the ideal beings in that they cannot be promised to survive to the full extension of a lifetime, nor can circumstance be disregarded as a silent beast, but more a looming shadow." He sounded strangely poetic. Amy wasn't sure if she liked where he was going, or if maybe he had consumed a small amount of alcohol before appearing at her doorstep. She would try to remember to smell his breath before her left, just in case.

"Amy?" She looked to him questioningly. "If you were to be gone, I would miss you." He sounded sincere, and she was touched by the sentiment. "And I cannot allow for that to happen."

He lightly clentched his fists and flexed his fingers, as if trying to grasp an invisible conclusion.

"So I must accept your proposal, as the alternative is not at all a consideration."

"Are you intoxicated?" Her heart was racing, but she did not allow herself to feel joy until she knew for sure.

"Pardon?"

"Have you consumed alcohol within the past twenty-four hours?"

"Unless Penny slipped something into my root beer, making it less from the "root" than from the fruit, no."

"I would like to know why it took you almost twenty-four hours to get back to me."

"It's not something…". He refrained from the cliché, "It's not you, it's me". Even though, in this case, it was the truth. It was how he had been brought up, which was a sometimes-annoying influence on him. Tradition, which he had so refused when it came to religious education and tedious ceremonies. Why was it such an accomplishment to pass high school anyway?

He started again, and she waited patiently for his answer.

"I am not used to… forgive me for this. It is the male's role to impress his girlfriend, normally in either a flashy or very personal declaration. We are more a secondary species, superior by far. Still-"

She almost laughed, finally understanding what he was getting at. "You were disturbed at the fact that I, a female, asked you, the male, to become betrothed to me."

He squirmed in his seat, rather uncomfortable with this realization.

"I want to do this how my Mee Maw would want it."

He stood up, and then lowered himself into an awkward crouch, placing a thin knee on the ground and propping the other one up.

"Amy Farrah Fowler… will you marry me?"

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><p>Not what you were thinking would happen? I wanted to add a little juice to the Shamy fanfiction, and there it is- it's complete now. Thank you all for the support; it's more than I expected to receive for this fic! I wish you a happy, healthy new year!<p> 


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